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It’s time for term limits at city hall

Councillor Gord Perks had a quick quip ready when asked if he believed in term limits for city councillors — y’know, a law that limits your ward councillor to two or three consecutive terms before he or she vacates the seat and gives someone else a chance at governing.

“I’m already on a term limit,” he said. “Four years.”

Cute, but designed to avoid the debate over how many of those four-year terms a councillor should serve before moving on so new blood and ideas can infuse the politics of the city.

I don’t believe in limiting the voters’ right to elect who they want to, Perks added.

Perks’ is the majority view on city council — aligned, hallelujah!! — with Mayor Rob Ford. (Both men may want to seriously reconsider their position as one of the two is always on the wrong side of an issue).

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Incumbent city councillors, by and large, tend to favour the status quo, and for excellent reasons that have served them well. And since they are the ones who make the rules, don’t expect a rush towards term limits at city hall.

An incumbent city councillor has the most secure job in politics. At the federal and provincial level, voters swing from one party to the next with little upheaval in our stable democracies. Each new wave is accompanied by a school of new faces to invigorate the system. But at city hall where there is no generic way to wash away a mass of dead weight (there are no political parties), change doesn’t come easy.

This may be one reason residents look to the mayor’s office for civic renewal or revolutionary change. Whatever Rob Ford’s failings might be, he is clearly a reaction against the status quo. However, he did not defeat an incumbent. His supporters claim he would have trounced David Miller had Miller not left after two terms. We’ll never know. We do know that the opportunity for change and renewal — for better or worse — is greatly enhanced in the absence of an incumbent.

Change comes most grudgingly at the ward councillor level. Councillors have an office budget that is really a re-election slush fund. They use it to send out notices and newsletters and reports to constituents — keeping their names before the voters throughout the four years. A wise councillor is there for the local baseball team and the church youth service and local school play and community picnic.

Rob Ford as councillor in a poor part of the city practiced this retail politics to perfection — while all the time denying his ward the kind of long term community resources that spark change, build neighbourhoods and contribute to social cohesion. He fixed their little concerns, one person at a time. And they love him for it — the lack of cricket pitches or social services or recreational opportunities notwithstanding.

In fact, a councillor has to steal money, totally ignore constituents, go out of his way to misrepresent ward residents and do such a horrible job as to turn constituents’ stomach. And even then they have a good shot.

Our first past the post electoral system can send a councillor to city hall with miniscule support. Frank Di Giorgio, the new budget chief, got re-elected with 31 per cent of the vote in Ward 12.

And it is promising to see Robinson, McMahon and Colle arguing for term limits. Their eyes have not yet been dulled to the efficacy of change.

Kelly, as aged and entrenched as they come, cited Howard Moscoe as an example of a veteran councillor (30 years before retiring) who brought forward more fresh ideas than the newcomers. I agree he did. But that reflects more on the caliber of the field than Moscoe’s prodigious talents.

Even Moscoe — not prone to bouts of modesty — would agree that his last 10 years were not the most productive.

Three terms — 12 years service — should be enough. Move on. Run for mayor. Do something else for at least a term. Then, return if the voters clamor for a reprise.

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